Most things in Flash can be done either with or without ActionScript.
The things that actually require ActionScript are non-linear playback,
and any situation where the author prefers to avoid using the Timeline.

General Flash workflow

To build a Flash Professional application,
you typically perform the following basic steps:

Plan the application.

Decide which basic
tasks the application will perform.

Add media elements.

Create and import
media elements, such as images, video, sound, and text.

Arrange the elements.

Arrange the media
elements on the Stage and in the Timeline to define when and how
they appear in your application.

Apply special effects.

Apply graphic filters
(such as blurs, glows, and bevels), blends, and other special effects
as you see fit.

Use ActionScript to control behavior.

Write
ActionScript® code to control how the media
elements behave, including how the elements respond to user interactions.

Test and publish your application.

Test
your FLA file (Control > Test Movie) to verify that
your application is working as you intended and find and fix any
bugs you encounter. You should test the application throughout the
creation process. You can test your file in Flash Pro, the AIR Debug
Launchers, and on-device via USB (Flash CS5.5 only).

Publish
your FLA file (File > Publish) as a SWF file that can
be displayed in a web page and played back with Flash® Player.

Depending
on your project and your working style, you might use these steps
in a different order.

For more help getting started with
the Flash Professional workflow, see the following:

Workspace overview

You create
and manipulate your documents and files using various elements, such
as panels, bars, and windows. Any arrangement of these elements
is called a workspace. The workspaces of the different
applications in Adobe® Creative Suite® 5
share the same appearance so that you can move between the applications
easily. You can also adapt each application to the way you work
by selecting from several preset workspaces or by creating one of
your own.

Although
the default workspace layout varies in different products, you manipulate
the elements much the same way in all of them.

The Application bar across the top contains
a workspace switcher, menus (Windows only), and other application
controls. On the Mac for certain products, you can show or hide
it using the Window menu.

The Tools panel contains tools for creating
and editing images, artwork, page elements, and so on. Related tools
are grouped.

The Control panel displays options for the currently
selected tool. In Illustrator, the Control panel displays options
for the currently selected object. (In Adobe Photoshop® this is
known as the Options bar. In Adobe Flash®, Adobe Dreamweaver®, and
Adobe Fireworks® this is known as the Property Inspector and includes
properties of the currently selected element.)

The Document window displays the file you’re
working on. Document windows can be tabbed and, in certain cases,
grouped and docked.

Panels help you monitor and modify your work.
Examples include the Timeline in Flash, the Brush panel in Illustrator,
the Layers panel in Adobe Photoshop®, and the CSS Styles panel in
Dreamweaver. Panels can be grouped, stacked, or docked.

The Application frame groups all the workspace
elements in a single, integrated window that lets you treat the
application as a single unit. When you move or resize the Application
frame or any of its elements, all the elements within it respond
to each other so none overlap. Panels don’t disappear when you switch
applications or when you accidentally click out of the application.
If you work with two or more applications, you can position each
application side by side on the screen or on multiple monitors.

If
you are using a Mac and prefer the traditional, free-form user interface,
you can turn off the Application frame. In Adobe Illustrator®, for
example, select Window > Application Frame to toggle it on or
off. (In Flash, the Application frame is on permanently for Mac,
and Dreamweaver for Mac does not use an Application frame.)

Hide or show all panels

(Illustrator,
Adobe InCopy®, Adobe InDesign®, Photoshop, Fireworks)To hide or show
all panels, including the Tools panel and Control panel, press Tab.

(Illustrator, InCopy, InDesign, Photoshop) To hide or show
all panels except the Tools panel and Control panel, press Shift+Tab.

Tip: You can temporarily display hidden panels if Auto-Show
Hidden Panels is selected in Interface preferences. It’s always
on in Illustrator. Move the pointer to the edge of the application
window (Windows®) or to the edge of the
monitor (Mac OS®) and hover over
the strip that appears.

(Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks) To hide or show all panels,
press F4.

Display panel options

Click
the panel menu icon in
the upper-right corner of the panel.

Tip: You
can open a panel menu even when the panel is minimized.

Tip: In Photoshop, you can change the font size of the
text in panels and tool tips. In the Interface preferences, choose
a size from the UI Font Size menu.

(Illustrator) Adjust panel brightness

In
User Interface preferences, move the Brightness slider. This control
affects all panels, including the Control panel.

Reconfigure the Tools panel

You
can display the tools in the Tools panel in a single column, or
side by side in two columns. (This feature is not available in the
Tools panel in Fireworks and Flash.)

In InDesign and InCopy, you also can switch
from single-column to double-column (or single-row) display by setting
an option in Interface preferences.

Manage windows and panels

You can create a custom workspace by moving and manipulating
Document windows and panels. You can also save workspaces and switch
among them. For Fireworks, renaming custom workspaces can lead to
unexpected behavior.

Note:

The following examples use Photoshop for demonstration purposes.
The workspace behaves the same in all the products.

Rearrange, dock, or float document
windows

When you
open more than one file, the Document windows are tabbed.

To rearrange the order of tabbed Document windows, drag
a window’s tab to a new location in the group.

To undock (float or untab) a Document window from a group
of windows, drag the window’s tab out of the group.

note: In
Photoshop you can also choose Window > Arrange > Float in
Window to float a single Document window, or Window > Arrange
> Float All In Windows to float all of the Document windows at
once. See tech note kb405298 for more information.

note: Dreamweaver
does not support docking and undocking Document windows. Use the
Document window’s Minimize button to create floating windows (Windows),
or choose Window > Tile Vertically to create side-by-side Document
windows. Search “Tile Vertically” in Dreamweaver Help for more information
on this topic. The workflow is slightly different for Macintosh
users.

To dock a Document window to a separate group of Document
windows, drag the window into the group.

To create groups of stacked or tiled documents, drag the
window to one of the drop zones along the top, bottom, or sides
of another window. You can also select a layout for the group by
using the Layout button on the Application bar.

note: Some
products do not support this functionality. However, your product may
have Cascade and Tile commands in the Window menu to help you lay
out your documents.

To switch to another document in a tabbed group when dragging
a selection, drag the selection over the document’s tab for a moment.

note: Some
products do not support this functionality.

Dock and undock panels

A dock is
a collection of panels or panel groups displayed together, generally
in a vertical orientation. You dock and undock panels by moving
them into and out of a dock.

To dock a panel, drag it by its tab into the dock, at
the top, bottom, or in between other panels.

To dock a panel group, drag it by its title bar (the solid
empty bar above the tabs) into the dock.

To remove a panel or panel group, drag it out of the dock
by its tab or title bar. You can drag it into another dock or make
it free-floating.

Navigator panel being dragged out to new dock, indicated by
blue vertical highlight

Navigator panel now in its own dock

You can prevent panels from filling all the space
in a dock. Drag the bottom edge of the dock up so it no longer meets
the edge of the workspace.

Move panels

As you move
panels, you see blue highlighted drop zones, areas
where you can move the panel. For example, you can move a panel
up or down in a dock by dragging it to the narrow blue drop zone
above or below another panel. If you drag to an area that is not
a drop zone, the panel floats freely in the workspace.

Note:

The position of the mouse (rather than the position of the
panel), activates the drop zone, so if you can’t see the drop zone,
try dragging the mouse to the place where the drop zone should be.

To move a panel, drag it by its tab.

To move a panel group, drag the title bar.

Narrow blue drop zone indicates Color panel will be docked
on its own above the Layers panel group.

A.
Title bar B.
Tab C.
Drop zone

Press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS)
while moving a panel to prevent it from docking. Press Esc while
moving the panel to cancel the operation.

Add and remove panels

If you remove all panels from a dock, the dock disappears.
You can create a dock by moving panels to the right edge of the
workspace until a drop zone appears.

To remove a panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click
(Mac) its tab and then select Close, or deselect it from the Window
menu.

To add a panel, select it from the Window menu and dock it
wherever you want.

Manipulate panel groups

To move a panel into a group, drag the panel’s tab to the highlighted drop zone in the group.

a panel to a panel group

To rearrange panels in a group, drag a panel’s tab to a new location in the group.

To remove a panel from a group so that it floats freely, drag the panel by its tab outside the group.

To move a group, drag the title bar (the area above the tabs).

Stack floating panels

When you
drag a panel out of its dock but not into a drop zone, the panel
floats freely. The floating panel allows you to position it anywhere
in the workspace. You can stack floating panels or panel groups
so that they move as a unit when you drag the topmost title bar.

Free-floating stacked panels

To stack floating panels, drag a panel by its tab to
the drop zone at the bottom of another panel.

To change the stacking order, drag a panel up or down by
its tab.

note: Be sure to release the tab over the narrow drop
zone between panels, rather than the broad drop zone in a title
bar.

To remove a panel or panel group from the stack, so that
it floats by itself, drag it out by its tab or title bar.

Resize panels

To minimize or maximize a panel, panel group, or
stack of panels, double-click a tab. You can also double-click the
tab area (the empty space next to the tabs).

To resize a panel, drag any side of the panel. Some panels,
such as the Color panel in Photoshop, cannot be resized by dragging.

Collapse and expand panel icons

You can collapse panels to icons to reduce
clutter on the workspace. In some cases, panels are collapsed to
icons in the default workspace.

Panels collapsed to icons

Panels expanded from icons

To collapse or expand all panel icons in a column, click
the double arrow at the top of the dock.

To expand a single panel icon, click it.

To resize panel icons so that you see only the icons (and
not the labels), adjust the width of the dock until the text disappears.
To display the icon text again, make the dock wider.

To collapse an expanded panel back to its icon, click its
tab, its icon, or the double arrow in the panel’s title bar.

Tip: In some products, if you select Auto-Collapse Icon
Panels from the Interface or User Interface Options preferences,
an expanded panel icon collapses automatically when you click away
from it.

To add a floating panel or panel group to an icon dock, drag
it in by its tab or title bar. (Panels are automatically collapsed
to icons when added to an icon dock.)

To move a panel icon (or panel icon group), drag the icon.
You can drag panel icons up and down in the dock, into other docks
(where they appear in the panel style of that dock), or outside
the dock (where they appear as floating icons).

Save and switch workspaces

By
saving the current size and position of panels as a named workspace,
you can restore that workspace even if you move or close a panel.
The names of saved workspaces appear in the workspace switcher in
the Application bar.

Save a custom workspace

With the workspace in the configuration
you want to save, do one of the following: